In smooth muscle cells enzymatically isolated from circular muscle of the esophagus (ESO) and lower esophageal sphincter (LES), ACh-induced contraction and myosin light chain (MLC) phosphorylation were similar. Contraction and phosphorylation induced by purified MLC kinase (MLCK) were significantly greater in LES than ESO. ACh-induced contraction and MLC phosphorylation were inhibited by calmod...

Neutrophil-induced coronary microvascular leakage represents an important pathophysiological consequence of ischemic and inflammatory heart diseases. The precise mechanism by which neutrophils regulate endothelial barrier function remains to be established. The aim of this study was to examine the microvascular endothelial response to neutrophil activation with a focus on myosin light chain kin...

RATIONALE Myosin light chain (MLC) phosphorylation determines vascular contractile status. In addition to the classic Ca²⁺-dependent MLC kinase (MLCK), another unidentified kinase(s) also contributes to MLC phosphorylation in living cells. Inhibitor κB kinase 2 (IKK2)-deficient mouse embryonic fibroblasts demonstrate abnormal morphology and migration, suggesting that IKK2 may be involved in MLC...

OBJECTIVE Burn-induced gut dysfunction plays an important role in the development of sepsis and multiple organ dysfunction. Emerging evidence suggests that hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) is critical in paracellular barrier functions via regulating vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) expression. Previous studies have also demonstrated that histone...

Recent studies have identified AMP-activated kinase (AMPK) as a target of Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent kinase kinase (CaMKKβ) and a negative regulator of myosin light-chain (MLC) kinase (MLCK). The present study examined whether a change in expression or activity of AMPK is responsible for hypercontractility of intestinal longitudinal muscle during inflammation or in response to proinflammatory ...

CaM (calmodulin) has been implicated in the regulation of IP3R [IP3 (inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate) receptors] and a recent report suggested that CaM tightly tethered to IP3R was essential for IP3R activation [Nadif Kasri, Torok, Galione, Garnham, Callewaert, Missiaen, Parys and De Smedt (2006) J. Biol. Chem. 281, 8332-8338]. In the present study, we confirm that a CaM-binding peptide derived fr...

Members of the titin/myosin light chain kinase family play an essential role in the organization of the actin/myosin cytoskeleton, especially in sarcomere assembly and function. In Drosophila melanogaster, projectin is so far the only member of this family for which a transcription unit has been characterized. The locus of another member of this family, a protein related to Myosin light chain k...

The expression of smooth muscle myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) was investigated during chicken gizzard development. The molecular weight and the antigenic properties of MLCK did not change during development. The use of anion exchange high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) enabled us to distinguish between MLCKs from post-hatched and adult chickens. A partial amino acid sequence determ...

the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma (hcc) cells is one of the leading causes of liver cancer mortality in humans. the inhibiting effects of matrine on hcc cell proliferation have been studied, but the mechanism of that inhibition has not been fully elucidated. since, apoptosis plays an important role in hcc cell proliferation. we examined the apoptosis-inducing effect of matrine on tu...

The purpose of this study was to characterize myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) expression in cardiac and skeletal muscle. The only classic MLCK detected in cardiac tissue, purified cardiac myocytes, and in a cardiac myocyte cell line (AT1) was identical to the 130-kDa smooth muscle MLCK (smMLCK). A complex pattern of MLCK expression was observed during differentiation of skeletal muscle in whic...